Counties in millage ask for spot-check on DIA's performance, $550K mentioned in contract in question

This painting — called “The Infant Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness,” by 17th-century Spanish artist Bartolome Esteban Murillo — was unveiled Thursday at the DIA and will be going on display for at least five years. It was found at Meadow Brook hall in Rochester Hills, after the Oakland County Arts Authority suggested the DIA should partner with Oakland University, which runs Meadow Brook. This painting is worth more than $5 million, said Oakland art authority chairman Thomas Guastello, who added collaborations such as these are partly why a performance review needs to be done on the DIA — on top of a financial review the art museum already underwent. (Photo provided by The Oakland County Arts Authority)

An additional spot-check on the Detroit Institute of Arts’ handling of taxpayer money will be in the institute’s future after a performance review was requested by Oakland County.

“We discussed the service agreement and what could be done in the shortfall of the agreement,” said Thomas Guastello, chairman of Oakland’s art authority. “At that time, Oakland County made very clear that we felt that the monies in the agreement should be spent in (the county), and it was on them to get the funding.”

A 0.2-mill was approved in 2012 by voters in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties last year for the DIA’s operating fund, and the 10-year tri-county millage boosts the museum’s operating fund by $23 million a year. In the year since the agreement was signed, the funding taken was nearly $10 million, Guastello said.

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Oakland’s art authority board — along with the art authority boards of the two other counties — felt a further performance audit on top of an already completed financial audit was necessary to find out how much money has been used for agreed-upon services in the county.

About $550,000 — set aside in the contract for programs such as senior trips to the DIA, teacher development and collaborations with local arts organizations and Oakland County communities — is what’s in question, and Guastello said while some programs are making “good headway,” others are tougher to get off the ground.

“We feel (the audit) is really important to do, so we know how much to carry over to next year,” he said, estimating that upwards of $150,000 could be left that the DIA hasn’t spent.

However, one of the successes of the programs translated into a found Spanish painting worth more than $5 million following a collaboration between the museum, Oakland University in Rochester Hills and Meadow Brook Hall.

The painting, titled “The Infant Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness,” was unveiled Thursday at the DIA and is on loan to the museum for at least five years.

Oakland Arts Authority Vice Chair Barbara Dobb said that a performance audit is nothing out of the ordinary, and is just being done to ensure “promises made are promises kept.”

Officials at the DIA are fully cooperating with the request, and will meet with their auditing firm, Ernst and Young, Feb. 14 to talk about what the performance audit could entail.

“We need to formulate a methodology for doing a performance audit, as the provision (in the service agreement between the counties and the institute) is only one line,” said Ericson, who added that annual reports for the three counties have been slowed due to formulating a plan for the requested audit.

“We should’ve been more specific when developing that, but we’re learning.”

The museum is also in the middle of restructuring following Detroit’s landmark bankruptcy filing July 18, which left the city with more than $18 billion in long-term debt obligations.

Further, a combination of donations from private foundations and matching state funds are part of a proposed “grand bargain” that would prevent DIA masterpieces from being sold and would shore up the pensions of city retirees.

Ericson said while getting deals done to free the DIA from Detroit’s financial planning is a large priority, administrators “still have to focus on getting back to being a great museum.”